The council’s new website and Customer Service Hub are central to the council’s Digital Transformation and our drive to make North Lanarkshire a leading digital authority. The Customer Service Hub will deal with all inbound and outbound communications, via the website, social media, targeted messaging and through telephone enquiries. The Customer Service Hub and self-serve functionality via the council’s website provide modern, front-facing services and enable our customers to engage with the council at a time and in a way that is suitable to their needs and preferences. Enquiries, service requests, applications and payments can all be handled through the Customer Service Hub and website. Specific benefits of the Customer Service Hub include a single point of contact for all service areas; professional, customer-focused service delivery; e-mail updates on the status of enquiries; and more enquiries resolved at first point of contact.
The new website is easy to understand and navigate and is accessible across all devices. The website provides access to self-serve digital channels and is regularly updated with information to meet users’ needs in a style and ‘tone of voice’ that is consistent and easy to understand.
There are no direct savings through the introduction of the new website and Customer Service Hub, however, Service Sprint activity identifies the potential to streamline existing procedures by transferring these to the website or Customer Service Hub and this can lead to a reduction in the requirement for Full-Time Equivalent posts through improved efficiency and workflow and reduced processing or duplication.
If this policy is subject to the FSD what does it suggest about the impact or potential impact on socio-economic disadvantage
There is the potential risk that individuals who experience ‘Low wealth’ and ‘Material deprivation’ may not be able to benefit fully through the advances in service delivery that are being made possible through new technologies. Moreover, until significant volumes of ‘live’ data and business intelligence become available through the Customer Service Hub, website analytics and Business Intelligence Hub, it is difficult to assess whether particular groups or those living in particular areas make less use of the online services and continue to experience disadvantage and discrimination. Accordingly, this Fairer Scotland Duty and equality impact assessment will be kept under regular review by the Customer Service Hub to ensure that any detrimental impact is kept to a minimum and addressed wherever possible.
Give details of the impact it has on groups and individuals
Stakeholders identified include:
Staff based in council services who are responsible for services delivered via the Customer Service Hub and website and who will also use the website as a point of reference.
Elected members who will be able to direct constituents to the Customer Service Hub and website as well as using the website themselves as a point of reference.
Residents and service users who will be able to make enquiries via the Customer Service Hub and website.
Partners and community and voluntary organisations who will be able to source information via the website and direct colleagues, members and service users to both the Customer Service Hub and the website as single points of enquiry.
The EQIA identified a positive impact on Low Income and Material Deprivation by providing access to online services and forms and removing the requirement for members of the public to attend a council office in person to make an enquiry or submit a form, thus removing potential travel costs.
There is a potential negative impact on Low Income, Low Wealth and Material Deprivation however, if individuals and households do not have access to a PC or smart device.
There is a potential negative impact on Area Deprivation. Households living in areas of deprivation are more likely to experience poverty and as such may not have access to a PC or smart device.
In terms of specific service users and individuals:
Older people are proportionately less likely to be digitally enabled. The Customer Service Hub and website may also compound feelings of isolation by some older people who value the human contact while accessing services either in person or by phone.
Some disabled people may benefit from the ease of access to services via the Customer Service Hub and website without the need to visit buildings. However, disabled people are more likely to experience poverty than non-disabled people and therefore some disabled people might not have access to online services via a PC or smart device. People with learning disabilities and British Sign Language users may need to have access to information in an Easy Read / accessible format.
Many carers will experience poverty and therefore may not have access to a PC or smart device.
Women, and in particular lone parents, are more likely to experience poverty and therefore access to digital services may be reduced.
Language may be a barrier for some people accessing online services. Many older Asian people are significantly less likely to have used the internet than white people belonging to the same age groups. Asylum seekers may potentially be living on a low income, with limited access to digital connectivity, a PC or smart device and may not have English as their first language.
Homeless people are potentially less likely to have access to a digital device or smartphone.
What actions/measures will be put in place or are planned to mitigate any adverse impact or promote equality?
The council will ensure that the website meets best practice in terms of accessibility and being easy to navigate and understand. The council already uses Google Analytics to monitor its website traffic and this will continue with any trends identified addressed.
Customer Service Hub staff will be fully trained to ensure that they are efficient, knowledgeable about the services being provided and courteous, helpful and empathetic towards callers.
As rollout and the volume of calls received via the Customer Service Hub and website increases, the data and business intelligence will be analysed to identify whether particular groups of people or those living in particular areas make less use of the online services and continue to experience disadvantage and potential discrimination. Equality monitoring will also be developed to identify who is using the Customer Service Hub and website and importantly, who is not using the services.
There is also the potential to engage with representative bodies such as North Lanarkshire Disability Forum, Deaf Services Lanarkshire, NL Access Panel and the council’s Employee Equality Forum to identify and address any limitations or difficulties in using the Customer Service Hub and online services.
Engagement will take place with BAME people and communities as part of the council-wide BAME research and this includes a section on access to digital technology and services.
The corporate Digital Skills and Inclusion Group is responsible for developing training and opportunities, including liaison with the voluntary sector, to ensure that our communities and council employees are digitally capable and confident.
Within Education and Families and Active and Creative Communities there is the opportunity to access external funding streams, such as the Scottish Government’s Connecting Scotland programme, to provide digital devices, connectivity solutions and support to people on low incomes who are digitally excluded.
Digital Inclusion is identified as a priority in the Local Outcome Improvement Plans and a Driving Digital Locally sub-group and action plan is in place to harness the efforts of Local Partnership Teams, Community Boards, the voluntary sector and the council in addressing digital exclusion and digital training in each of the nine community board areas.
Strategic Communications will keep the Customer Service Hub and website equality impact assessment under regular review to ensure that any detrimental impact is kept to a minimum and addressed wherever possible.
What is the result/recommendations of the EqIA
The recommendation from the Equalities Impact Assessment is to introduce the Customer Service Hub and new website, recognising that there may be the potential for some adverse impact on individuals who do not have access to network connectivity or an IT device, however these individuals will continue to be able to phone to request a service. The council will analyse user numbers to identify whether these groups are particularly impacted and develop appropriate strategies to minimise/remove disadvantage.